White paper May 2017

Sustainability reporting: Housing Associations at pre-take-off stage? 1

White paper

Sustainability reporting Housing Associations at pre-take-off stage?May 2017

White paper May 2017

Sustainability reporting: Housing Associations at pre-take-off stage? 2

In March 2017 we reviewed over 60 Housing Associations (HA’s) to see how they are communicating their sustainability governance and performance. This white paper outlines our findings and observations.

Housing Associations live and breathe social values, so you could expect their sustainability reporting to be comprehensive and well developed.

HA's build around 30,000 new homes a year, a valuable contribution, especially in the face of reduced social housing grants from government. They work hard to make their limited resources go further. They help vulnerable people out of fuel poverty and rent volatility and into stable communities and warm, affordable homes.

We found they produce some great communications on Value for Money, Social Value, Homecare and repair. They speak “energy efficiency” fluently and they guide their tenants on such topics. They appear well governed and are on top of compliance on equality and diversity, for instance. We also found the sector’s ethos is very much instilled via the Housing & Communities Agency requirements on repairs and maintenance (R&M), service quality and other compliance areas.

So why are some producing a Sustainability report? There is a significant role for voluntary standards and actions to push beyond the regulatory minimum. Reporting is not “just a book”, it’s an act, a process which breeds change and helps take the next big step in an industry. The “Reporting process” enables HA’s to identify and capture wider risks and reveal opportunities.

Energy efficiency and quality are already well covered. We note a variety of possible topics for future reports, such as retrofit, circular economy, materials supply chains, Home Quality Mark, affordability, mould control, energy education and overheating.

And whilst the 2016 zero carbon homes target has been scrapped we still have UK climate change targets and EU ‘nearly zero energy’ buildings targets for 2019/2021 as a driver. From 2018, minimum energy efficiency standards and codes in private rented accommodation will drive performance further even though most of what will be our housing stock in 2050 has already been built.

Who is driving change?Many HA’s are guided by the UK Green Building Council on healthy homes and neighbourhoods as a national infrastructure priority. UK-GBC advocates sustainable solutions to its members and influences green building policy. Many are SHIFT partners, poised to capitalise on being a member and achieve accreditation. SHIFT is an independent assessment and accreditation scheme that demonstrates that organisations are delivering against environmental targets.

What’s the opportunity?Given all this, like many organisations around the world today, Housing Associations (HA’s) are starting to produce Sustainability Reports and reap the benefits of doing so.

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS AT PRE-TAKE-OFF STAGE?

White paper May 2017

Sustainability reporting: Housing Associations at pre-take-off stage? 3

Of the 60 HA’s we reviewed, seven published reports resembling Sustainability Reports (also known as CSR Reports). We scored those we reviewed on credibility, context, content and communication. Scores varied from 2 to 13 (out of 20).

Our key observations:• Leadership/ governance. Some great examples

of Senior Management clearly understanding broader societal impacts, and explaining their business model in the context of wider trends in economic and social policy. This showed a good understanding of environmental risks and opportunities, in energy efficiency and building quality, for example.

• Targets and performance metrics. If you measure your sustainability impacts you can manage them, but only one of the small clutch of reporters did this adequately. There are some very interesting examples of switching to renewables, waste management, and human resource management.

• Balance. Who can talk about the challenges as well as the good stuff? As it turns out, this is hard for HA’s, as it is for many reporters globally! Some limited evidence was found in one report.

• Use your stakeholders. Who? Stakeholders are those who affect your organisation, or on whom you have an impact. Customers, investors, suppliers etc. We found some ‘people-based’ case studies in the reports, and some quotes from real stakeholders. None told us if or how they engaged with stakeholders when prioritising what to report, or how to do it.

• Supply chain included? How does a company understand and optimise the overall impact of its products and services? Materials sourcing in construction is framed by Standards, and is a significant area of focus. Many HA’s in their general information indicate clear awareness of green buildings, of course. One report tells us about a social purpose clause in supply contracts, others indicate an understanding of ‘value chain’ impacts. Otherwise no real evidence was found.

• Third party verification? Relatively common in good practice reporting in Europe, external verification or assurance was not evident in ‘the seven’.

• Reporting Frameworks in use. HA’s evidently elect not to use frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative.

• Design/media. Despite some excellent use of design and digital channels in general by HA’s, we found no compelling evidence of best practice in report design.

Reports comprised a variety of text and image usage. Consistency of branding of reports was evident (i.e. with other comm’s channels). Social Media usage or other interactivity of the reports is limited. Some HA’s appear to present varied content using different channels, the next step is to unify it and capitalise on them. We did also note some truly sub-standard examples of design, we confess.

WHAT DID WE FIND?

White paper May 2017

Sustainability reporting: Housing Associations at pre-take-off stage? 4

We listed HA’s in the UK and reviewed just over 60 of them, looking at communications on sustainability (the wider set of risks and opportunities arising from environmental, social, economic and ethical impacts of industry and society). A couple of them were listed on the global Sustainability Reporting database (corporateregister.com).

Using what criteria? We looked for a good report context relating to sustainability, long term trends affecting value created and destroyed in terms of environmental, social and economic capital. We looked for evidence in the report of targets, performance metrics, balance of good stuff and challenges, stakeholder inclusion, supply chain impacts, use of sustainability reporting frameworks and of course design quality. We scored the seven report examples we found.

Call Henry on 0207 866 2162, start a conversation about sustainability communications and reporting.

We can help you with:• Reality Check on sustainability reporting and where

it fits

• Following up an Environmental Strategy with good communications

• Simple diagnosis on quality of your communications

• Sustainability reporting issue prioritisation (‘materiality’) – what should you be reporting

• Sustainability reporting framework (eg GRI) – how to set it up and then report against it

• Combining content (compliance-led content, material issues content) into one report

• Tailor certain content to certain audiences

• Rationalising content across channels for improved impact

• Communicating with your audiences throughout the year via social media, video, animation, infographics

• Copy-writing and editing for your Sustainability content online or offline

WHAT DID WE DO?

WHAT NEXT? YOUR CALL TO ACTION

White paper May 2017

Based in London, Oxford and Exeter with a network across the country, we have experience of over 100 sustainability reporting projects round the world since 2004. We’re a team of 30, and we like to nurture client relationships. The aim is top quality and good fun along the way.

For more information about AB Reporting please visit: https://www.ab-reporting.com

For a chat about your reporting requirements and see who is leading your sector please call Henry (Reporting Partner) on 0207 866 2162 or email him at henry@ab-uk.com.

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A 15 year track record in sustainability reporting and 21 years’ experience in the environmental field. Alex specialises in sustainability reporting, producing trusted communications for organisations on sustainable development related risks that affect the value of a company, in a way that meets expectations of stakeholders. Alex has acted as project director and

lead writer for a variety of reports. He has extensive experience with first-time reporters. He has worked on more than 75 sustainability reporting projects around the world since 2001, with most reports being in accordance with frameworks such as GRI and <IR>, as well as stock exchange listing rules on sustainability disclosure.

White paper and research : Alex Nichols, Associate Director